While driving to the crime scene, Dr. Wade asks Gibbs and Bishop if either one of them knew anything about college football. Gibbs answered, "Nah, not much." Mark Harmon was the starting quarterback for the UCLA Bruins in 1972 and 1973.
The Crescent City is a popular nickname for New Orleans. During the nineteenth century, new neighborhoods expanded out from what is now known as the French Quarter. These areas followed the great curve of the Mississippi River, giving New Orleans the shape of a crescent.
Tony receives a brown paper package and says, "Brown paper packages are my favorite things." Based on his knowledge of movies, he may be referencing The Sound of Music (1965), "...brown paper packages, tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things..."
Due to the length of the first act, the on-screen credits do not roll until the second act, which is uncommon for any TV series. This is the second time this has happened on NCIS (2003).
Second of a two part episode that was meant to introduce another NCIS (2003) spin-off series, NCIS: New Orleans (2014).